Michael, Jessica & Lily

Christmas

2012-01-06T15:49:00.000-06:00

The past few months seem to have just flown by for us. Christmas was wonderful. Michael was blessed with 11 days (including weekends) off from work which allowed us to spend some quality time together as a family. We decided not to travel and just have a quiet, peaceful Christmas. We went bowling, played countless games, went shopping, went to the movies, spent time with friends, had quiet time and daddy-daughter dates, and even had a family sleepover in the living room. Lily and I finally finished our advent calendar tree (better late than never) with the help of Michael which we'll finally use next year. We had our ward Christmas party, and it was parent watch week and Lily's tap and ballet class. Every day Lily waited patiently for the mailman to come... we loved getting Christmas cards and feeling the love from family and friends in other parts of the country. The adoption process is slow, but we try not to let it bother us. We have a lot of love in our family, we just can't wait to share it with another member!!

2011-12-25T13:58:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!

Oops...

2011-12-11T15:33:00.000-06:00

So I stink at blogging. I knew it when I started this blog. A few years ago I tried to start a family blog... it ended up with one post on it. I decided to start this one because our case worker told us that word of mouth was the best way to hopefully speed up the adoption process. We want to add to our family so badly and I know that means I need to be better at keeping up with our blog. So here goes (although short and sweet)...

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had 10 people over from Michael's office. Most of them were single and had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone brought something and we had a TON of food. One girl named Meg was here and she just doted on Lily. It really warmed my heart to see Lily so happy amid a large group of adults. She didn't feel left out or like she needed to cling to me at all. Lily had a Thanksgiving lunch at school. She borrowed a dress from Keira's sister so that she and Keira could match. Aren't they cute??

On December 1st, Lily had her preschool Christmas program. I wasn't able to get any good pictures during it, but we got some great ones of her posing before and after.

Last night we had a Christmas party at church. Lily was SO excited for it. She loves crowds and parties and noise. She even got to take a picture with Santa!! Before the party though, we had to unpack the box that came from Nana and put the gifts under our tree.

So that's my quick update. All is well in our home. We're happy and healthy and looking forward to this amazing Christmas season.

Gratitude

2011-11-10T17:40:00.000-06:00

This month, many people are choosing to write daily about what they're grateful for. I tend to reflect more personally and not put everything out there for all on my social media pages. That being said, I have to say that I am so incredibly grateful for a kind and loving Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me. I am grateful that he knows me so much better than I know myself. I'm grateful for the gentle whisperings of the Spirit that come back again and again until I actually pay attention and listen. My life hasn't always gone according to my plans, but I know that things are going according to his and I'm okay with that. I'm grateful for Michael. He is kind, loving, gentle, and humble. He's an amazing dad. It doesn't matter how long his day has been or how tired he is, he comes home from work and plays soccer in they yard, reads books, colors, does play-doh, plays hide-and-seek and just has fun with his daughter. He's the best husband I could ever ask for. Michael would give up anything for himself to make me happy. He comes home from work and offers to cook dinner, do dishes, fold laundry, or anything else he can think of that might help me (although I usually send him to play with Lily since she misses him so much during the day). My family may be small for now, but we're happy and we love each other. All three of us look forward to the day our family will grow. We are so ready to be a family of four. We know that the day will come - Lily knows her prayers for a brother or sister will be heard. Michael and I have faith that our prayers to welcome another member of our family into our home will be answered. Until then though, we will move forward with faith, grateful for all that we've been blessed with already.

What brings me joy...

It's true...

2011-11-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

Princess Cinderella

2011-11-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

Too much candy!! That's what you'll find in our house. Between the trunk or treat at church and trick or treating last night, we have too much candy. Thankfully Michael will eat most of it. In fact last night, Lily came home, dumped her candy out on the kitchen counter, and asked if she could have a little bit more dinner please. She only ate candy when Michael asked if she wanted to share some Skittles with him! I was shocked but definitely had no complaints.

Lily dressed up as Cinderella for Halloween. She already had the dress but I agreed to buy her a crown and let her wear my special dangly pearl earrings. This was huge for Lily. She's never allowed to wear dangly earrings, and wearing my nice ones was icing on the cake for her!

Happy Birthday Michael!!!

2011-11-01T07:59:00.000-05:00

I'm behind on blogging.

October 22nd was Michael's birthday. He'd been working 12 hour shifts for the entire week because of something going on here on base and we were pretty sure he'd have to work 12 hours on his birthday as well. Lily and I were kind of bummed because last year Michael was in Louisiana for his birthday and we really wanted to be able to spend time with him. Well, we got lucky! The day before Michael's birthday, he and his co-workers finished working after about 6 hours and Michael was done for the weekend! Woohoo!! We didn't have a ton planned for the day because we'd anticipated Michael being at work but we were happy to be together. Instead of a cake, we made chocolate cupcakes with a reese's peanut butter cup inside with peanut butter frosting. They didn't look to pretty but they sure did taste good! Michael is always so easy going and grateful for anything that others do for him. We love you Mikey!!

--------------------------A Walk in the Park---------------------------

2011-10-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

We are so fortunate to live right next to a beautiful state park. It's right across the street from the base and is acres and acres of forest. Fall is my favorite season and Lily is just amazed with the colors of fall so we thought it would be a good time to go for a family walk/hike at the park. Michael and Lily go to the state park often for daddy-daughter dates but this time I was allowed to come. :) Lily had a basket to collect colored leaves for a fall craft and ended up coming home with tons of leaves, acorns, and nuts. We tried to end with a picnic but there were so many bees that we were miserable and decided to come home and eat in the backyard at our patio table.

...........................Tomorrow... October 13th

2011-10-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

For nearly 7 months I dreaded tomorrow. Now I can't wait for it to come.

On January 31st I found out that Michael and I were expecting for the 4th time. It had been over 2 years since my last pregnancy/miscarriage and I was ready to do it again. We thought that this time would finally be it for us and we'd be able to have another baby. On March 7th I had an ultrasound that showed me a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. On March 8th I had an ultrasound that showed a baby with no heartbeat. It was devastating. I was due October 13th.

Fast forward until now. We're no longer trying to conceive on our own for the first time in our marriage. We know that adopting is what our family is supposed to do. We're excited to welcome a baby into our home - hopefully soon. We have just one step left until we're approved and officially waiting - our home study visit. Just by chance it was scheduled for tomorrow, October 13th. It's like a new beginning!!

.................General Conference Weekend............

2011-10-03T17:10:00.000-05:00

We LOVE conference weekend! What an amazing experience it is, twice a year, to hear the words of choice men and women of God. We try hard to make it a fun and exciting weekend so that Lily understands just how special and wonderful it is.

Friday night was backyard camping night. We cooked hot dogs over the fire and slept in our tent. Lily was especially excited to get brand new winter jammies to stay cozy overnight.

On Saturday we started the day with yummy apple cinnamon muffins, eggs, and hot chocolate. We were all excited for conference to start and Lily couldn't wait to hear her "favorite prophet" speak. Poor Michael was just a little bit tired! Lily painted and made sure that Jaynie was comfortable. In between sessions we took down the tent and cleaned up all of our stuff from the camp out.

After conference Lily went to a birthday party for a little boy in her preschool class, Mason. Lily claims to love Mason and the two frequently refer to each other as their boyfriend or girlfriend. Lily was super giddy having Mason put his arm around her and could hardly contain herself for a picture.

Sunday was an amazing day of conference. Somehow, after four hours on Saturday, Lily was still excited to watch again on Sunday. We filled our day with fun crafts - the kitchen table was moved into the living room. Lily painted wood letters to spell the word family. She picked out ribbon with hearts on it (because we love each other) to hang the letters in our family room.

Photo Page!!

2011-09-29T17:11:00.000-05:00

We have to make 2 photo pages for our case worker to share. Here's the first one...

Pizza, Movies, Soccer, and Forget-me-nots

2011-09-29T17:10:00.000-05:00

This past week has been a great one at the Heiner house! On Saturday night I was able to attend the General Relief Society meeting. It's always fun to go out with all the girls and the spiritual experience is definitely not worth missing. President Uchtorf spoke directly to my heart. I went home feeling refreshed, uplifted, happy, and so very blessed.

We've been having a lot of fun as a family. This week, Lily wanted to have a pizza and movie night. We make homemade pizza every Friday so this was nothing new but it's always a good time! (The added bonus is that we watched our movie while we ate which is a very rare occurrence at our home). For our movie, Lily chose to watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was a little bit scary at times but nothing that a good snuggle with Mommy or Daddy couldn't fix!

Lily has been loving soccer this fall!! It's only a 6 week program on base that teaches the basics but she can't seem to get enough of it! I didn't think she'd enjoy it nearly as much as she does her dance class, but boy was I wrong!

One Step Closer

2011-09-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

Today we met with our case worker, Sam. He's amazing. He is so kind and patient and understanding. He knows that it has taken us quite a while to finally choose adoption only and no longer try for a biological child. Because of this I think he really understands the weight that has been lifted off of our shoulders and the renewed sense of hope that we feel. It's amazing. It's freeing. Sam will be coming to our house in mid October. Within about 10 days of his visit our profile should be on line and available for people to view. We're so excited! I'm bummed that he can't make it out here until then, but he's going to be out of town and then has a packed schedule for a few days after he returns. Either way, we're thrilled! Pretty soon the real waiting can finally begin!

Sunshine During the Storm

2011-09-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

Twice this week I looked out my back door and saw storm clouds coming in. The sky was growing dark and I knew we were about to get heavy rain. Both times though, the sky never grew completely dark and the sun was shining down through the rain. Adoption has been like sunshine during a storm to us. Years of infertility and miscarriages have been dark and difficult and sometimes the trials seem never ending. It's hasn't been easy trying to see the sun shining in on our situation, but now we finally do. We were meant to have a very special family. We will stay strong through the storms and the trials we face. We know that we have not been forgotten and that we are so blessed.

Preschool

2011-09-07T10:25:00.000-05:00

Today is Lily's first day of preschool!! She is so excited to finally be in the big kid 4 year old class. This year she'll be going to school on MWF afternoons. I can't believe that she only has one year left of being home with me most of the time! Lily, on the other hand, is happy to be in school but is constantly talking about kindergarten next year and wondering why she can't go when she's 4. I finally told her that she can't go because I'm just not ready for it yet! Time needs to slow down, not speed up!! Anyway here she is this morning wearing the "beautiful first day of school outfit" she picked out.

The Big Decision

2011-09-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

Michael and I always knew we wanted to adopt. Before we were married we talked about it - we had no idea that infertility would enter our lives. We thought we would have biological children and then later adopt older children from foster care - we never even considered adopting children instead of having biological. A couple of years ago when our secondary infertility turned into secondary infertility with multiple miscarriages, we decided that we wanted to adopt a baby. We spent a long time talking and praying, making sure it was the right decision for us. We knew it was. When we moved to Texas, we began the process. It's been slow and we've had some bumps in the road. It's hard to start the adoption process in one state and then move to another just nine short months later. We've had to redo paperwork and have letters of recommendation rewritten because ours were lost in transit somewhere. We've experienced another pregnancy and another loss. We've prayed for a biological miracle while working on finishing up our adoption paperwork. Recently we finally sat down and talked about what we were doing. Michael asked if I wanted to try and get pregnant again. I thought about it for a while and said no. I said no. Me. The very same girl who has been trying to get pregnant for 5 years out of my 6 year marriage said no. We're both so happy and at peace with our decision. Infertility can take a toll on your heart and mind. It's so stressful. Doctors appointments and tests can just become too much. Then, when I finally get pregnant I worry more. I spend weeks throwing up and end up miscarrying. I want to be a mom again. That's all I've ever wanted to be. I don't need a baby to come into my home through my body in order to be a mom. Michael feels the same way. He doesn't want to see me hurt anymore and he doesn't want to hurt anymore either. Lily wants to be a sister. She prays every night and asks for a brother and a sister. She knows that sometimes mommies' bodies have a hard time having a baby in them. She knows that my body does. She understands that sometimes Heavenly Father sends babies to families through another person's body. She's happy. We're happy. We know our family will grow. We long for the day when it does... through adoption. :)

(I'm exhausted writing this and my thoughts are probably even more jumbled in my mind than they are in this blog... sorry.)

....................Adoption... it's about Love...............

2011-09-01T16:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Friend,

We don’t know each other yet, but we hope that will change soon! We’ve written a little bit about ourselves and we hope to hear from you soon to answer any other questions you may have. Our email address is mikeandjessheiner@gmail.com.

Our Story

In February 2005, just two weeks after Michael returned from his mission, we both showed up with friends at the monthly Young Single Adult dance for our stake in Virginia. Neither one of us expected to meet our eternal companion that night, but within a few short weeks we both knew that we had. We spent hours just talking and it felt like we’d been friends for years. After two weeks we were inseparable. By the end of August, we were married and living in Provo while Michael finished school at BYU. In the years that have followed, our friendship has only grown stronger. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve experienced highs and lows, felt great joy and great sorrow. Through it all, our commitment to each other and the Lord has made us stronger and brought us closer.

Adoption Decision

Nearly two years after we were married and after countless prayers, we were given a miracle. We named her Lily. We always imagined we would have a big family and we were excited to welcome more little ones to our home in the future. The journey to grow our family has been a rough one and not at all what we expected. The past four years have been difficult with fertility problems and recurrent miscarriages. Before we were married we had talked about adoption and now we realize that it is our best option.

Michael (Mike)

Michael was born in Provo, UT but moved to the east coast when he was four and grew up in Northern Virginia. He’s the 5^th of eight children with three older sisters, one older brother, and three younger brothers. He always loved kids growing up and knew that being a great dad and husband was one of his most important goals in life. Michael loves to make homemade pizza and cookies and then eat them. He also likes drawing, games of all kinds, playing sports, camping, hiking, listening to music, and watching movies. In high school Michael ran cross country and track and performed in the show choir. Michael served a mission in Oakland, California speaking Laotian. At BYU Michael taught at the Missionary Training Center and earned his commission in the Air Force through ROTC.

Jessica (Jess)

Jessica was born in Virginia. Her dad was in the Navy and though she moved around a lot, she still always considered Virginia her home state. She moved around a lot but ended up in Virginia every other time. When her dad retired from the military in 2002, her family stayed in the DC area. She’s the 2^nd of six children with one older sister, two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Jessica always knew she wanted to be a wife and mom. She always babysat her siblings as well as many other neighborhood children. Jessica loves to read, sing, scrapbook, camp, cook, go shopping, do family history and spend time with family. In high school Jessica enjoyed singing in the choir with her two closest friends. Jessica attended college at George Mason University in Virginia.

Lily

Lily is a fun-loving four year old girl. She’s definitely a social butterfly who loves to be surrounded by other children. Sleep is an inconvenience to Lily – she never likes missing out on anything. Lily thoroughly enjoys her weekly tap/ballet class and her big kid four year old preschool class. At home during the day she loves reading, doing puzzles, playing games, cooking, and doing crafts with Jess, playing outside and having play dates with friends. When Michael comes home from work, he and Lily always enjoy some quality daddy-daughter time and on weekends she is eager to go on daddy-daughter dates to the park for a picnic lunch. Each night before she goes to sleep, Lily prays and asks her Heavenly Father to send her a brother and sister. She’s really looking forward to being a big sister and can’t wait to help feed the baby, rock the baby, and sing to the baby.

Communication

We’re looking forward to an open adoption. Your baby will always know that he/she came to our family a special way. We look forward to exchanging letters, emails, and phone calls in the future. We know it is important for you to know that your baby is loved and happy.

Our family is ready for another baby. We are not complete yet and we all know it – even Lily. We long for sleepless nights and dirty diapers. We hope our family will be able to grow soon.

Love,

Michael and Jessica